The best way to prepare eager young preschoolers, Kindergartners and
early-graders for reading is to teach Phonemic Awareness.
The number-one suspect when children struggle, is weak Phonemic Awareness.
Phonemic Awareness is POWER.
Some children develop Phonemic Awareness naturally.
But sound is tricky.
Children need sophisticated auditory language skills for sound.
If children have not developed their ‘Mind’s Ears’ how can they
play PA games?
Phonemic Awareness is fun, and kids build power as they play.
PA is the power base of The Reading Treehouse which enables fluent reading.
Some do not understand that Phonemic Awareness is an auditory skill.
Don’t children get enough Phonemic Awareness from a good Phonics
program?
Maximum power comes from maximum exercise for the ‘Mind’s Ear.’
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Why Teach Phonemic Awareness?
Phonemic Awareness is POWER.
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Some children develop Phonemic Awareness naturally.
Just as some children are naturally ‘good at art,’ some are good at sound.
They figure it out, and can play with it in their ‘Mind’s Ear.’
Jenny, Jenny, Bo-Benny, banana-fanna-fo-fenny, fee-fie-mo-many: Jenny!
These are the children who invented Ig-Pay Atin-Lay (Pig Latin).
These are the children who usually learn to read no matter how they are taught.
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But sound is tricky.
Unlike written letters, you cannot stare at sound.
It goes by quickly, then it’s gone.
You have to pick sound up quickly, or you miss it.
To actually play with sound, you have to keep it alive in the ‘instant memory compartment’ of the ‘Mind’s Ear.’
Picking up sound quickly, and keeping it alive, are sophisticated auditory language tasks.
Auditory discernment skill helps the child to pick up sound quickly and accurately.
Auditory working memory means keeping sound alive in the ‘Mind’s Ear’ so effectively that the child can juggle it mentally.
These are just the abilities--these and more--that children build by playing Phonemic Awareness games!
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If children have not developed their ‘Mind’s Ear.’ how can they play Phonemic Awareness games?
Fortunately, there are easier games that prepare the ‘Mind’s Ear’ for the harder ones.
Phonemic Awareness skills build upon one another, as in the example below:
Rhyming is a good place to begin with the youngest children.
Babies and tots, kids who are not 'auditory learners,' or students at risk can begin at the very beginning with Playful Sounds.
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Phonemic Awareness exercises are fun, and kids build POWER as they play.
Phonemic Awareness skill does not depend upon intelligence.
Phonemic Awareness training does not take a long time, and is effective in the classroom.
If students struggle with reading, it is never too late to back up and build Phonemic Awareness.
PA is the power base of the Reading Treehouse which enables fluent reading.
Children with strong auditory foundations tend to sail through Phonics programs, compared with children who have little auditory skill.
And these savvy kids can deal with . . .
One sound, many ways to spell it
One spelling, many ways to say it
Two letters, one sound
One letter, two sounds
. . . because they begin with one strong, simple, reliable and accurate representation: the sound in the ‘Mind’s Ear.’
It is so much less confusing that way.
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Alas, as PA gains in recognition, there are those who do not understand that Phonemic Awareness is an auditory skill.
"Our Phonics program teaches PA right along with Phonics."
"It’s already covered!"
Do not confuse Phonemic Awareness with Phonics.
What’s the difference?
Phonemic Awareness is a set of ‘Mind’s Ear’ skills.
Phonics is a system of eye -to- ear relationships (visual -to- auditory information).
Without strong ‘Mind’s Ear’ skills, the child’s eye-to-ear relationships (for reading) and ear-to-eye relationships (for writing) will always have a weaker ‘ear’ piece.
A weak ‘Mind’s Ear’ will gobble attention, slow the reading, compromise comprehension, and make it all hard work!
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Don’t children get all the Phonemic Awareness they need from a really good, pure phonics program?
NO. Remember: Sound is tricky.
Children need to learn to play with sound without crutches--relying only on the ‘Mind’s Ear.’
If children are given visual symbols--letters--before they develop the ability to ‘hear’ and play with sounds in their head, they may not develop a strong ‘Mind’s Ear.’
Children need to focus on the information from their ears rather than eyes-plus-ears.
So we need to make sure children have plugged in the ‘Mind’s Ear.’ before we add written letters to the mix.
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Maximum power comes from maximum exercise for the ‘Mind’s Ear.’
So make sure students can play a variety of listening-only PA games, before adding written letters to the games.
Once the ‘Mind’s Ear’ is active and strong, Phonemic Awareness continues to grow along with Phonics.
More on this topic: The Reading Treehouse -> THE FLOOR: Phonemic Awareness
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